CONserve-KAIGANGAN held its 2022 Kaigangan Biodiversity Webinar Series
On March 30, 2022, Ms. Elaine Loreen Villanueva of the University of the Philippines Open University opened the year-long Kaigangan Biodiversity Webinar Series, by her topic, “Biodiversity of Forest Over Limestone Ecosystem in Samar Island Natural Park (SINP).” The speaker was a former Senior Science Research Specialist and Career Incentive Program (CIP) Researcher of the project, CONserve-KAIGANGAN. The webinar was conducted via zoom and was attended by several audiences from various locations throughout the Philippines. The webinar topic aims to provide information on the outcomes of the plants and animal biodiversity assessment in SINP, describe the tree community structure in SINP, and highlight the significance of the nomination of SINP as a UNESCO Natural Heritage Site.
The second webinar topic entitled “Some threatened woody plant species in forests over limestone in the Philippine Islands” was presented by Ms. Ren Divien Obeña, a current University Research Associate of the CONserve-KAIGANGAN program. The webinar was held on April 26, 2022 and was livestreamed on the official Facebook page of the project.The topic of the webinar aims to determine the threatened woody plant species and discuss the treats of the forests over limestone in the Philippines.
This webinar has been uploaded and can be viewed on the CONserve-KAIGANGAN YouTube channel.
The topic aims to evaluate the faunal and floral composition of forests over limestone in GMRPLS with notes on conservation and distribution and to discuss the value of terrestrial biodiversity to resilience and ecotourism. The study provided biological reference in the form of a checklist for future ecological research, conservation, and monitoring efforts.
Assistant Professor Desamarie Antonette P. Fernandez of the University of the Philippines Los Banos and former CONserve-KAIGANGAN project staff presented the third webinar topic, “Biodiversity of Forests over Limestone in Calicoan Island, Guiuan, Eastern Samar.” The webinar was held on May 19, 2022 and was livestreamed on the official Facebook page of the project.This webinar has been uploaded and can be viewed on the CONserve-KAIGANGAN YouTube channel.
The fourth webinar topic was held on June 28, 2022 and was livestreamed on the official Facebook page of the project. The speaker is Assistant Professor Marjorie delos Angles of the University of the Philippines Los Banos, a former CONserve-KAIGANGAN project staff member. The topic “Ecology of understory plant of forests over limestone in Samar Island, Philippines” aims to document and examine plant diversity and species composition in forests over limestone of Paranas, Taft and Guiuan of Samar Island.This webinar has been uploaded and can be viewed on the CONserve-KAIGANGAN YouTube channel.
Professor Edelyn O. Echapere of Samar State University and current CONserve-KAIGANGAN project staff was the fifth speaker in the 2022 Kaigangan Biodiversity Webinar Series held on July 28, 2022. The webinar topic “Scientific exploration, utilization, and commercialization of Ferns in Samar’s Kaigangan” aims to explore the phytochemical screening and antibacterial activity of fern leaf extracts.This webinar has been uploaded and can be viewed on the CONserve-KAIGANGAN YouTube channel.